Stuffing box



Oct. 25, 1932. T. E. FLAKE 1,884,642

STUFFING BOX Filed June 18, 1928 mung INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Oct.25, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'I'HOKAS E. FLARE, OE BRECKENRIDGE,TEXAS, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES E. BROWN, 01 BRECKENRIDGE, TEXASSTUIFING BOX Application filed June 18,

[his invention relates to improvements in stnfiing boxes, and itconsists of the constructions, combinations and arrangements hereindescribed and claimed.

An object of the invention is to providea stuffing box of especial valuewhen used in connection with oil or other wells employ ng a pumping jackand a polished rod, for wh1ch purpose the stuliing box is laterallyyieldable so that it will adapt itself to the bend of the polished rodand will avoid the wearing of the bore in the packing into an ovalshape.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby a coolingmedium may be circulated above the packing in a stuliing box, so thatthe packing and the polished rod are prevented from becoming undulyheated as when the Well has been pumped dry.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stufling box in whichthe packing is readily removed and replaced, said means also beingcapable of employment to protect the packing as when the load of the rodstring must be imposed upon the stufling box, for instance when thewalking beam breaks.

Other objects and advantages appear in the following specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is avertical section of the improved stufiing box,

Figure 2 is a detail pers ective view of the stufling box, the handlesing shown extended as in the act of tightening the pack- 111g,

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is adetail sectional view of one end of the opposing flanges,showing the .washer turned over into a position to keep a load from thepacking as later explained.

Those who are familiar with the pumping of oil wells are acquainted withthe characteristic pumping jack which comprises, among other things, awalking beam and an adjuster box from which a polished rod is suspended.Usually the oil is pumped into tanks that set higher than the point ofde-.

1828. Serial 110. 286,119.

livery at the well and it is therefore necessary to provide a stuifingboxin which the polished rod works.

The end of the walking beam swings through an arc of a circle, andinasmuch as considerable side movement is imparted to the polished rodthe packing in the stuffing box wears readily on two sides, causing thebore in the packing to assume an oval shape. Room is thus afforded forthe oil to leak out, 00 and much valuable fluid is thus lost. Thiscondition is remedied by making the stufling box laterally yieldable sothat it can sway with the polished rod in its bending movements.

Another difficulty in the pumping of an oil well results when the wellruns dry. Continued operation of the pumping apparatus will cause thepacking to burn out, due to the lack of lubrication of the polished rodin the packing. This condition is remedied by cirilating a coolingmedium through the stulfing box.

Further difficulties are encountered in practice when a breakage in thepumping apparatus occurs. A t such times the weight of the load,comprising the rod string and the pump plunger at the bottom of thewell, would have to be imposed on the stuffing box while repairs werebeing made. This ruins the packing, but in order to prevent this,provision is made for relieving the packing of the load, the. weightbeing imposed on more solid and rigid parts of the stuffing box. The useof the same means makes it easy to remove the packing from the stufiingbox. All these features will be understood from the drawing to whichattention is now directed.

The familiar polished rod is indicated at 1. The upper end isconnectible with a walking beam and the lower end with a string of rodsthat carry a pump plunger at the bottom of the well. None of these partsare shown because they are not essential to the invention. The polishedrod mentioned is subject to bending movements during the pumpingoperation, and for that reason the gland casing generally designated 2and appearing above the broken line 4 is made subject to lateral ieldingso that the swa 'ng of the polished rod may be com ensa for.

A coupling 5 provides or the discharge of oil from the well tubin Oneelement 6 of a known stufling box 15 screwed into the coupling 5, asleeve or gland 7 of this element having a. loose fit at 3 in the lowerextremity of a collar 8 which is one of the parts of the invention. Thiscollar has a flange 9 confrontin a flange 10 on the element 6, the twoflan es ing of characteristic shape as seen in i re 2.

Bo ts 11 pass through the flanges and hold them together, but the fitbetween the flanges is loose so that the gland casing 2 can swing orsway in respect to the element 6 without breaking any of theconnections. Washers 12 are fitted upon the bolts between the flanges. Arib 13 is so placed on each washer that it fits down over the edge ofthe flange 10 thus to leave a space 14 between the top of each lug andthe bottom of the adjacent flange 9 while the pumping operation is goingon. The space 14, together with the loose fit of the gland 7 in thecollar 8 provides for the swaying of the'gland projection.

A packing composed of a p urality of rubber or other suitable rings 15adjacent to the gland end 7, and a plurality of rubber rings 16separated from the rings 15 by a metal ring 17 occupies the bore 18 ofthe collar 8. The packing is followed by av gland 19 which 15 held downby a cap 20 that screws upon the sleeve*8 as at 21. The head 22 of thecap is made hollow to provide a chamber 23 in which fluid may collect.This provision adds a measure of safety, insuring the prevention of thepacking from burning out should the cooling system fail for any reason.The flanges 24, which form parts of the head, have large holes throughwhich the polished rod passes.

One of these flanges presses upon the gland 19, and ordinaril therewould be a tight contacting surface etween the flange and the end of thegland. Side extensions 25 0f the head areso formed as to receive theenlarged ends of handles 26. These handles will ordinarily gravitate tothe position shown in F igure 1 when released, but when the occasionarises to tighten the packing they will be swung up into the extendedpositions shown in Figure 2 where they are taken hold of to turn the cap20. The handles swing in the extensions 25 as on a hinge.

Pipe connections 27 and'28, the former having a valver29, are screwedinto the collar 8 which has passages 30 with which the pipescommunicate. Water is used as the cooling medium, and in order that itmay reach the polished rod the gland 19 has a number of holes 31. Theinterior of the cap 20 as well as portions of the interior of the collar8 forms chamber which will hold a considerable volume of water. It hasbeen found that water. circulation very materially lengthens the life ofthe polished rod, especially when the well is running salt water withthe oil, the effect of the circulating water being to wash the polishedrod and thus retard corrosion.

As has been indicated already, the washers 12' will be placed in suchpositions that the ribs 13 extend downward, the ends of the flange 10fitting in the recess, as it were, formed between the washers and theflange. Should a breakage of the walking beam or other part of thepumping apparatus occur, so that'the weight of the polished rod and itsapplurtenances would have to be imposed upon t e stufling box, thewashers 12 would be turned over into the position shown in Figure 5,thus to fill the space between the flanges 9 and 10 and relieve thepacking 15, 16 of the wei ht. This prevents ruining the packing.

S ould it become necessary to remove the acking the washers 12 will beremoved from etween the flanges 9 and 10 so that the weight of the glandcasing 2 may be imposed upon the packing 15, 16. Upon removing the gland19 and cap 20 the gland 7 will operate to push up on the rubber rings sothat the first rings are readily gotten at. The washers 12 thus haveseveral functions, namely, they permit the swaying movement of the glandprojection, prevent the imposition of weight upon the packing whenturned in the position shown in Figure 5, and when removed, permit thepushing up of the packing so that the first rings are readily taken out.

The operation is readily understood. The working position of theimproved stufiing box is as shown in Figures 1 and 4. The packing 15, 16bears directly on the end of the gland 7. The latter is loose in thebore 18 of the collar 8, and as the polished rod 1 bends from side toside as the end of the walking beam traverses the arc of a circle, thegland casing 2 will sway with the polished rod in respect to the rigidelement 6.

Yielding of the rubber rings 15 and 16 will follow the sway of the glandprojection, the rings alternately being compressed, then stretching. Theresiliency of the packing on top of the gland projection 7 gives thestuffing box a hinge action. It may be explained here that it is notessential to use the metal ring 17, but its use is desirable as aseparator between the two systems of rubber rings.

As water circulates through the hollow cap 20 some of the water willreach the surface of the polished rod and work down into the rubberrings where it will provide an excellent lubricant between the rubberand metal. The principal function of the cooling medium is to preventover heating of the stufling box when the well becomes pumped dry. The

chamber 23 will even take care of a case in which the cooling systemfails.

Some of the water will work upward along the surface of the polished rodinto the chamber 23 so that the chamber may become filled. Should thecooling system now fail, the water accumulated in the chamber 23 willwork down again and so keep the parts lubricated at least to an extentWhere serious damage could not result. It is readily seen, withoutspecific illustration, that the cooling medium can be introduced intothe stufling box at more than one point, in fact there is no particularlimitation on the arrangement of the passages for the cooling medium.The purposes and advantages of the washers have been demonstratedalready. The ordinary position is as shown in Figure 4, the space 14providing the necessar looseness. The supporting position is shown inFigure 5, as when the polished rod 1 is let down so that certain repairscan be made. The removal of the washers has the effect of expelling thepacking when the gland 19 and the cap 20 are released.

While the construction and arrangement of the improved stufling box isthat of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and changesmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the claims.

I claim 1. A stuffing box comprising a fixed element with a gland, 'agland casing loosely connected with said element, said gland casingcomprising a collar having a bore in one end of which the gland has aloose fit, a cap attached to the collar having an associated glandextending into the other end of the bore with a relatively tight fit,and a resilient packing situated between the glands permitting'relativeswaying of the gland projection to compensate for bending movements of apolished rod operating in thestufling box.

2. A stufling box comprising a perforated rod gland, encasing meanscontaining said gland having fluid intake and discharge passages forconducting a circulation of fluid through the eneasing means to supplythe perforations, and a chamber superimposed on the encasing meansreceiving a fluid seepage and providing a lubricant reservoir for thegland in the event of an interruption of fluid circulation through saidencasing means.

3. A stufling box comprising a rod packing a perforated rod glandresting on the packing, encasing' means containing the packing and glandhaving intake and discharge passages conducting a circulation of fluidthrough the encasing means for supplying the perforations With fluid tolubricate the packing, said encasing means including a flange resting onthe gland and providing a cover, and having a chamber above said flange,for receiving a seepage of fluid and providing a lubricant reservoir forthe gland and packing in the event of an interruption to the-fluidcirculation through the encasing means.

4:. A stufling box adaptable to a laterally swaying polished rodcomprising a packing for the rod, an open-ended member by which thepacking is contained, means carried by said member and operabletherealong against the packing at one end of said member thus tending toexpel the packing at the other end of said member, and a fixed rod glandindependent of said member, upon which gland the other end of thepacking rests to establish a centralized pivotal mounting for thesuperimposed member and its carried means.

5. A stuifing box for a laterally displaceable polished rod comprising amovable inverted open-ended member, a fixed, upright rod gland looselyextending into the open end of said member, there being a polished rodextending through said gland and member, and a rod packing in saidmember resting on the end of the gland to simultaneously provide acushioned support for the movable open-ended member and to keep thepacking under pressure through gravity.

6. In a stufiing box having a rod packing, an inverted open-ended membercontaining the packing, and a fixed rod gland engaging the packing atthe open end of said member; confronting flanges respectively on themember and gland, a washer, and a rib on one flat face of the washer.said washer being reversible in position between the flanges first tocontact the rib and the opposite face of the Washer with the confrontingsurfaces of the respective flanges to fixedly support the member,second, upon reversal of the washer and the consequent emplacement ofthe rib in a position outside of said flanges, to space the member fromsaid means and provide for free lateral play of the member, saidwasherstanding in position to catch the member upon dropping thereby toprevent damage to the packing.

THOMAS E. FLAKE.

